Kubiak talks Chargers-Texans

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak works the sideline against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of a preseason NFL football game on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider)

/ AP

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak works the sideline against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of a preseason NFL football game on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider)

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak works the sideline against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of a preseason NFL football game on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider) (/ AP)

Texans coach Gary Kubiak coached Mike McCoy when McCoy was a quarterback trying out for the Broncos. When the Chargers hired McCoy last January, Kubiak called with congratulations and advice. Monday night at Qualcomm Stadium, their teams will meet in the season opener.

Kubiak has Super Bowl connections to both the Chargers and San Diego that will make Chargers fans cringe: he was Steve Young's quarterbacks coach when the 49ers trounced the Chargers in Super Bowl 29 and Denver's offensive coordinator in its two Super Bowl victories, the first one in San Diego.

The Texans are 59-53 (.527) with a 2-2 playoff record since Kubiak replaced Dom Capers.

Chatting with San Diego reporters on Thursday, Kubiak touched on several subjects.

• McCoy. Tutoring him as Denver's quarterbacks coach, Kubiak sensed he someday would become a head coach, calling him "very smart." The day he congratulated him, he assured McCoy that while the job is hectic, there's time enough to handle it.

"Actually I was passing down a piece of advice that I had gotten from (then-Titans head coach) Jeff Fisher when I first got my job here in Houston going 100 miles an hour," Kubiak said. "You don't think there's enough time in the day, and I remember Jeff Fisher telling me it'll get done, just keep going. That's what I told Mike the day I called him. I said it's probably the best piece of advice that I've gotten so I passed it along."

•. Arian Foster. Norv Turner sometimes held out a healthy LaDainian Tomlinson for an entire preseason, but Kubiak said Foster not taking any preseason snaps owed to his recovery from injuries (back, leg) not a coach's decision. It's expected that Foster will start against the Chargers.

"Arian's played plenty of football. I'm not worried about (rust)," Kubiak said. "You'd always like to have a few snaps under the belt and those type of things -- but Arian's played plenty of football. He knows what to expect, and then it's our job to bring him along the right way, too."

• Matt Schaub. Kubiak said it's "fair" to expect Schaub, the team's quarterback and a draft classmate of Philip Rivers, to improve if the Texans are to improved on recent success. Preparing him for this season, Kubiak required that Schaub lose weight and do extra drills to improve footwork.

"The key to longevity is guys taking care of themselves, and he's done that, and hopefully there's some improvement there," he said. "He's had a good preseason. It's time to go to work and play this season here. But it's just something that we thought was important for an emphasis point for Matt."